Studs Terkel’s Working

A couple of weeks ago, I shared an instructional video from 1948 called You and Your Work. This film painted an ideal (and idealized) view of the workplace and the worker’s role in it. But we all know work isn’t really like that, right? Yes it’s important to work hard, and yes it’s important to maintain a positive attitude, but jobs and careers are complicated. They make up a huge part of our lives, yet most of are ambivalent about the work we do.

Studs Terkel’s Working
Two years ago, I read and reviewed Studs Terkel’s Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, which featured excerpts from over 100 interviews the author conducted with those who lived through the 1930s. Terkel spoke with all sorts of people: old and young, rich and poor, famous and not-so-famous, liberal and conservative. These folks paint a picture of that era in their own words. Hard Times was fascinating.

Well, Terkel published a whole series of these oral histories, including a book called Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. It’s sort of like a grown-up version of Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day?, one of my favorite books from childhood. In Working (published in 1974), Terkel collects stories from average joes and janes about what they do at their jobs, how they like it, and what they want to do in the future. For two years, I’ve been meaning to read this book, but I’ve never made time for it — until now.

I truly believe, in the words of Brenda Ueland, that everyone is talented, original, and has something important to say. To me, it’s the personal histories that make up History (by which I mean the grand tapestry of world events). Without your story — and mine — the larger story doesn’t exist. The mass movements of kingdoms and cultures are built on the backs of you and me.

No wonder, then, that I love Studs Terkel’s work. Though he has an obvious progressive (or liberal) bias, so what? He gives everyone an equal say. In Hard Times, he gave voice to the residents of Depression-era shantowns and the stockbrokers who thought the whole thing was exaggerated. In Working, he does the same.

What Do People Do All Day?
Here are a few excerpts from Pekar’s graphic-novel adaptation, which collects 28 stories from Working:

In Praise of Quotidian Life
Don’t read Working — the original book or the graphic novel — if you’re expecting massive revelations about the human condition. You won’t find them here. Working is merely a mundane account of what it’s like to do a nine-to-five job. But that’s why I like it so much.

In the preface to the graphic novel, Harvey Pekar writes:

I was especially pleased to work on this project because Studs Terkel puts a great deal of emphasis, as I do, in writing about quotidian life. The so-called normal aspect of human existence is underemphasized in every form of literature, yet that is the aspect that most readers are familiar with and can most easily identify with.

The style of life I myself am familiar with is the quotidian.

But just because one writes about everyday life doesn’t mean it’s uninteresting; in fact, I find it’s most fascinating, because it is so seldom written about. Virtually every person is potentially a great subject for a novel or a biography or a film. Bravo to Terkel for documenting these fascinating lives.

Is Working great literature? I don’t know. I like it, and that’s what matters to me. Others seem to like it, too.

For years, I’ve harbored a secret dream. I want to marry two of my passions: personal finance and comic books. I would dearly love to write a graphic novel that somehow instructed readers in sound financial habits. I’m not sure that’ll ever happen. Until it does, I can at least be happy knowing that Working exists.

GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve their financial goals. Savings interest rates may be low, but that is all the more reason to shop for the best rate. Find the highest savings interest rates and CD rates from Synchrony Bank, Ally Bank, and more.

Don't miss out - Subscribe to our newsletter for more articles on personal finance.

I love Harvey Pekar and would love to read that book but alas my library’s stock of graphic novels is pretty much non-existent. This is one of those charity things I put into my mental background as things I want to do when I “can afford to be generous.” Donating a good collection of graphic novels to the library is definitely up there.

loading....

Julia

Please write a graphic novel about finance! As an adult with ADD, I deeply appreciate ANY deviation from text-only information delivery systems. Maus was a literary and commercial hit – talk about improbable, a cartoon about the Holocaust. Can you imagine the pre-publication talk about those books – he wrote what??? And then it became a classic. You can definitely write a great graphic novel about people and money, JD!

loading....

AnonAgain

Apologies in advance for nitpicking, but while this may be “graphic novel style,” it ain’t a novel if it’s non-fiction. Some people may consider “comic book” to be pejorative, but using the more formal, less accurate term smacks of insecurity (just like “sanitation engineer”).

loading....

Rosa

Nickeled & Dimed is nothing like Working, though, because Terkel let people speak for themselves (I love all his books, especially the one about old people.)

I’d buy a graphic novel memoir of yours, JD. Though since one of your big pieces of advice is “don’t buy so many comics” I wonder if our comic store would stock it 🙂

loading....

Tina

I think a graphic novel would be a great idea, especially if it’s geared towards someone who’s just graduated high school and is off to college. For example, I know the rules have changed regarding credit cards being offered to college students, but having some guidance for a situation like that would be invaluable. You could also do something like tips and tricks for saving money on typical expenses, student loans, etc.

loading....

Stan

Add my vote to those who would read J.D.’s graphic novel. I think it sounds like a great idea!

loading....

I.N.

As a former escort and someone concerned with sex worker rights, I am glad to see a call-girl represented among working people. A recurring theme in discussions I see between activists is that we need to change the discourse about sex work to what it really is about – work. With its ups and downs, challenges and joys, people who like it and people who don’t but just do it for the money.

And looking at the garbage truck driver example or all the jokes about lawyers, I can also see we are not the only ones with a stigma attached to the job description.

loading....

felix

I second Susan’s recommendation for Gig…It’s no Working, but I thought it was a good read.

And I agree that a personal finance comic would be awesome (but then I’m a big fan of comics).

You should TOTALLY write that graphic novel, J.D. It would reach out to audiences not tapped by your first book: young people who need to hear your message before they start making serious mistakes with money. DO it! Do it!

loading....

PigPennies

Thank you for posting these excerpts! Everyone does have something important to say, but sometimes that’s easy to forget about yourself when you’re working 9-5 under fluorescent light bulbs in a synergy cube.

loading....

chacha1

When I was in my early teens, my Dad gave me a comic book about a character called Primero Dinero. It was all about microeconomics and entrepreneurship. Primero got into all kinds of scrapes including a shipwreck and, fabulously, I seem to recall a liaison with Morgan Fairchild. It wasn’t kid-level stuff. 🙂 It was funny but very instructive.
Edited to add – out of curiosity I did a quick search and there are two copies for sale at Abebooks, expensive, but if this is your bag, might be a good addition to the collection. “The Adventures of Primero Dinero.”

loading....

Chris

Please do it J.D.! You of course will have your own take on an angle for your book but I think it would be real cool to just have ordinary people talking about how they manage their money. Maybe less a how to and more of people’s voices. That’s what makes this blog and others that I like to read so compelling, the personal stories.

loading....

brokeprofessionals

That one graphic novel story about the “sanitation worker” reminded me of growing up. My father had an honest job, worked a ton of hours, and put food on the table, but I would be ashamed because the other kids would make fun of me for it. Now as an adult I am, of course, ashamed for not respecting what my dad was sacrificing and giving up so I could go to college oneday, to put on the table, etc. I too find the every day life activities of the average person interesting.

loading....

Chickybeth

What I found most interesting about this post was the quote form the younger worker talking about the boss:

“We do the job and we do it fine, but he doesn’t know why. The older guys work because they want to get ahead but he doesn’t know why we do.”

It seems like that’s why everyone is complaining these days about Generation Y. People don’t understand their motivation for wanting to make the world better and so they consider them lazy. It’s nice to be reminded how every generation goes through the same cycles and how today’s idealist will be tomorrow’s curmudgeon. 🙂

loading....

Matt

For those in chicago, there is a production of Working going on right now. I saw it on Thursday and really enjoyed it.

loading....

Kim

I highly recommend: Nickled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. This is an infomrative and startling portrait of the working poor. Here’s the A-zon link:

As a Studs Terkel fan, and (partly because of darling husband) a budding comics fan (or BD where I live) I give this review 2 thumbs up. The book is now on my list for the next book-buying round. Thanks for the information!!!

loading....

Wade

I’d never actually heard of this book before, and I find the concept and excerpts to be very interesting. It is kind of a unique view of how workers of that era felt. Take for example, the worker from the “Bible Belt” that is working for a “Yankee” after the “War of Northern Aggression.” It is very interesting what these people thought of the jobs they performed.

loading....

bon

Love, love, love Brenda Ueland.

loading....

Susan

Cool – I really loved the original book. A few years ago, someone published a modern version called “Gig”. The interviews aren’t as brilliant as terkel’s (he was just a genius in my opinion), but it’s fun because it looks at today’s work world.

loading....

Pamela

I owned a hard cover copy of Working for many years and dipped into it over and over. People are very eloquent when someone is listening, really listening to them.

As I consider these stories today, I think of many people I meet now who are dissatisfied with the whole idea of working at a conventional 9-to-5 job and hope there is something better out there that will give them more control over their destiny. It would be interesting to see someone who loves stories as much as Terkel interview workers born after 1950.

I had no idea this book had been released as a graphic novel. It reminds me a little bit of Will Eisner’s stories about every day life in NYC. I’ll be looking for it.

And I’m a big fan of sequential art myself. I’d love to see a financial planning book in my local comic shop. Daniel Pink’s The Adventures of Johnny Bunko might be an interesting inspiration for it.

Advertiser Disclosure:
Many of the savings offers appearing on this site are from advertisers from which this website receives compensation for being listed here.
This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). These offers do not represent all deposit accounts available.
Editorial Disclosure: This content is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser.
Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the bank advertiser, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. This site may be compensated through the bank advertiser Affiliate Program.
UGC Disclosure: These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser.
Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Disclaimer: Rates / APY terms above are current as of the date indicated. These quotes are
from banks, credit unions and thrifts, some of which have paid for a link to
their website. Bank, thrift and credit union deposits are insured by the FDIC
or NCUA. Contact the bank for the terms and conditions that may apply to you.
Rates are subject to change without notice and may not be the same at all
branches.

Disclaimer:All information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. GetRichSlowly.org makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, suitability or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information or any damages arising from its display or use.